Dream Vacation
by naybaybay
Summary: Beckett finally accepts Castle's offer to go with him to The Hamptons. A two-shot, based on a VERY vivid dream I had last night!   Rated T for partial nudity.
1. Chapter 1

**[Pokes head in briefly] Hi. Yes, I know, I know, I said I wouldn't be writing anything more until after Christmas, but I ACTUALLY dreamed this last night - it was so scarily vivid. I'll tell you about it at the end. This will only be a two-shot. It's not a Xmas story - though I am so in love with many Christmas stories on here right now... that I read when I should be focusing on work :D**

**Anyway, as usual, I hope you enjoy it :-)**

**Merry Christmas!**

**Love,**

**Renee.**

Richard Castle had always felt a sense of bittersweetness as he drove the bush-clad road to his summer home.

Typically, it meant a holiday away, usually with his daughter, his mother and sometimes whatever "flavor of the week" was currently sharing his bed. Most Summers, his friends would make an appearance, some he was close to, some; stragglers that he hardly knew - friends of friends; but all as welcome as each other.

The trek to his favorite hide-out was also usually filled with a feeling of melancholy; or at least that was the way it had been for the last four years.

For at least two months, he would have no murders to solve, no killers to track down and put away. That feeling of accomplishment and pride would only be found in the making of a perfectly made waffle - a far less impressive, much more meager form of achievement.

And then of course, that emotion that made his chest hurt whenever his mind wandered from whatever trivial conversation he was having with an old buddy, where his thoughts drifted to his very important work, and then, of course... to her.

The Summers he had spent here since he had met Katherine Beckett, had been so different from the ones before he ever knew she existed. She had made him miss the city, crave the business of it, the excitement of that thriving metropolis that she so desperately cleaved to.

He knew when he first asked her to join him at his luxuriously peaceful palace, she would turn him down outright. The second time he asked her, he expected her to at least think about it, and she did, but still declined, almost like the pure indulgence of a break away, was something sinful.

The third time he asked her, she considered his offer more than she had the first two times, despite being in a relationship with another man - but he was in another country at the time, so it didn't really constrict her decision (not that any man would ever dare tell Kate Beckett what she could or couldn't do.)

This year, the young detective was single. And the writer had no arm candy to accompany him to his holiday hangout. So he asked her again, in a way that was as ritualistic as their daily coffees that he bought.

Like every year previously, he had expected her to either be unwilling or unable to come with him. So when he sidled up to her that morning in the break room, it was with no reserved hope that he spoke to her about going to The Hamptons again.

_"So it's my last day today", he reminded her, passing her a 12th Precinct coffee mug for her to fill with a delicious hot beverage from the intricate and complicated machine, made available to the Homicide devision by a very generous man's donation._

_"Mhm" she replied softly, she always got slightly quiet when their hands touched, even for the brief duration of the passing of a coffee cup._

_"It's going to be kind of hard, being there without Alexis for the first time in... well, since she was born", Castle pouted, his face contorted with sadness._

_Beckett clipped her cup under the coffee spout, and turned to look at him. He looked truly wounded, like a dog who had just been slapped on the nose._

_"It'll be different, there's no question about that. But just think, one day, the house will be passed down to her and she'll bring her own family there, start memories with her own offspring. And I'm sure Grandpa Castle will always have a room made out for him."_

_Castle hissed. "Hey, easy!_

_A smile cracked on her face._

_"Firstly, that scenario will not happen for many, many years..." he said seriously. "And secondly, the house is not entirely going to Alexis - I set up a trust earlier this year so that if Alexis ever decides to sell it, seventy per cent of the sale price will go to her, and the other thirty per cent will go into a funding account for the Police Widows and Orphans Foundation."_

_Beckett looked at him, speechless. "Really?"_

_Castle nodded. "I made the decision the moment I arrived there last Summer, after, Montgomery..." he inhaled a quick breath, pausing awkwardly._

_Beckett shook her head slightly. "That's an amazing gesture, Castle, truly."_

_Castle smiled, with a small shrug. "Swindling more money out of my pocket and into the hands of cops... I think Montgomery would have approved."_

_Beckett chuckled lightly and picked up her coffee. Walking to the door of the break room, she had a sudden decisive urge._

_She spun around to find him close to her, he had been following in her wake, as usual. She opened her mouth but no words came out, she bit her lip instead._

_Castle raised his eyebrow at her. "Yes?" He asked her softly, a hopeful tone not being able to keep itself from infiltrating the question._

_"Is there still a room on offer this year?"_

_Castle's body straightened up intently. "Of course, there's even an extra one now that Alexis won't be coming."_

_"I'd like to join you... if I'm still invited." The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them. Her face turned red, and she almost moved to withdraw the comment._

_"Really? You're not joking around, right now, are you? You seriously want to come to the Hamptons with me?"_

_"I seriously do", she told him. "In fact, I had considered going last year, if the conversation came up, but well..." She smiled bitterly. Fate had intervened on that idea - fate in the form of a bullet._

_Castle groaned internally. When they finally caught the guy that shot Beckett, the sniper was going to wish he'd never been born._

_"E-even with... Josh?" He asked her uneasily._

_Beckett shrugged. "He wasn't here... you were."_

_He looked on at her, feeling slightly dazed, as she turned and walked out of the room. He followed her to her desk and stood beside it for a while, just staring down at her in disbelief._

_"Are you going to act all moony-eyed the whole day? We still have one more day of work to get through, you know", she said._

_"I-I just... you're not doing this because you think I'm going to be lonely without Alexis are you? Because mother will still be there with me..."_

_Beckett tilted her head to the side. "Do you not want me to come?"_

_Castle's eyes went wide and he sat down in his chair. "No- yes, of course I do. I just am amazed that you even have the time off."_

_Beckett inhaled. "Yeah, well I arranged it a few weeks ago. I was just going to get some things done here and then book a flight to Paris but... I know that that would just be running away again, and I'm sick of doing that, especially when there are people here that care about me. It's about time I sat down with them and let them know how much I really appreciate them." She gave Castle a lingering look. His eyes dug a tunnel to her soul._

_"Tripping off to Paris on my own would just be selfish", she said looking away._

_"Well hey, when's the last time you did something just for yourself? I'd say if anyone deserves to be a little bit selfish it's you", Castle told her sincerely._

_She smiled. "I think a couple of months in the Hamptons sounds pretty indulgent."_

_Castle grinned. "I am going to spoil you rotten."_

_Beckett laughed. "Bring it on", her eyes gleamed with an openness so welcoming, it made Castle's heart stammer._

And now, driving along in his convertible, top down, winding through the roads that seemed to have no end, Rick Castle drove with his mother next to him and a quite unexpected brunette guest in the back seat.

"I really am terribly sorry I couldn't offer you the front seat Kate, but I don't think anyone would be particularly enthralled by the sight of my stomach contents - least of all me... That crab stew I had last night is definitely something I never want to see again."

Castle caught Beckett's reaction in the rear-view mirror, she was laughing silently. "Really Martha, it's fine. I like the back-seat."

"Ah, see, I'm already treating you like royalty. Chauffeur driven and even given the choice of radio station... you're living the good life now, detective."

"Yeah I'd probably be hard pressed to find company any better than this, too", Kate smiled.

Her eyes met with Castle's in the mirror and she bit her lip, shifting her gaze to her knees.

"Oh well, I'm just so thrilled you could join us, darling! I know Richard's been trying to get you up here for a long time."

Beckett nodded, although Martha couldn't see her. "Yes, well I was planning to fly to France, but this seemed a lot more relaxing than walking around Paris being hit up by street performers every five seconds."

Martha and Castle laughed.

"And, of course, this way, my wallet won't take such a beating."

"Ah, well I have a proposition for you. Next Summer, we'll forget about the Hamptons. We'll jet off to Paris instead. We'll see the Louvre, do the little canal rides, drink barrels of wine, eat tractor-sized wheels of camembert...mm."

Beckett laughed. "That's a rather stereotypical view of things to do in Paris, Castle."

"Well what would you do in the city of love, Miss "world traveler of the year"?"

Beckett rolled her eyes at him. "Well, I've always wanted to go there and just spend some time out of everything, away from civilization altogether. France has this thing called "countryside", you know, something New York really has nothing of. I just want to travel around, meeting new people, experiencing a world totally opposite to mine. Walking around all day and backpacking at night... that sounds like a real holiday to me."

Castle smiled at the wistful look on her face, but shook his head. "I'm sorry, but I won't be staying in any backpackers... I'm a best selling author, people know me over there, they'd be expecting me to maintain a certain profile... Nope, I know a perfect hotel where we could stay, fine food, luxurious accommodation - and don't worry, it'll all be covered."

Beckett shook her head, feeling slightly embarrassed. "Oh, Castle."

Martha put a hand on her son's arm. "Oh, would it be permissible for an executively-deprived old woman to tag along? It's been such a long time since I've been to Paris."

"Mother, you were there last year", Castle gave her a look.

"Yes but that was only a layover on my way to Dubai".

Castle rolled his eyes.

"We'll have to take Alexis with us, she's practically adopted France as heråå motherland", Martha told him.

Castle chuckled. "Alright then... we'll make a family holiday of it. Sounding good Kate?"

Beckett couldn't speak for a moment. Did he just include her in the idea of a "family holiday?" Where she fit in his family, she didn't know, but the image of the grandmother, the daughter, the father and.,. whatever she was, walking around as a "family" - in Paris no less; was rather appealing.

"Wow, it's sounding like a dream come true Castle, but it would really be way too much."

"Nonsense, taking you on a trip to your dream location would be my way of saying thank you for finally agreeing to come with me to my favorite holiday destination."

Beckett smiled. "The Hamptons, Paris... worlds apart. But perhaps one day we'll be able meet each other half-way." Beckett locked eyes with him in the mirror again, but this time, she didn't look away.

"Ooh like Hawaii? Now that's MY kind of holiday", Martha interjected, spoiling any kind of moment the two might have been sharing.

...

They arrived at The Castle holiday chalet in record time, according to Castle, and when they got out of the car, they decided not to unpack straight away, as Castle was keen to show Beckett around the place.

"Richard, Martha!" A voice sounded from across the street. A man with a wide cat-like face and black slicked-back hair smiled and waved at them.

Beckett's eyes popped open. "Is that... Nathan Lane?"

"Yeah, he's our neighbor... I'll tell you it's a good thing I've been living with my mother my entire life, If I wasn't so tolerable of show tunes, I'd have chopped my own ears off by now", he muttered, beaming widely over at the Broadway actor.

He turned to the young woman. "Hey, come round back, I want you to see it", he grinned like a child at Christmas and took her by the hand. She let herself be dragged around the back of his modern, glass and wood, square-shaped house.

"Tada!" He exclaimed, presenting his backyard to her. There was a well-manicured lawn, with a barbeque pit and a large swimming pool.

"Wow, this is... gorgeous" Beckett whispered the last word.

Castle's grin widened.

"I'll never understand why people who live right by the beach have swimming pools, though", Beckett mused.

Castle cleared his throat. "They frown on ah... public nudity at this particular beach."

Beckett turned to him with raised eyebrows. "You, skinny dipping, really?"

"Worse...mother", Castle grimaced.

Beckett pursed her lips.

"Why do you think everybody has such high fences round here? I've only heard rumors, but in Mr. Lane's case, let's just say, I'm oh so very, very glad."

Beckett snorted with laughter.

"But, no I've never had the desire myself."

"Not even with Gina?" Beckett questioned him.

She thought she saw a flash of regret in his eyes, but she could have been imagining things.

"Oh, Gina, no she was never into the whole nude in the water thing. In fact, she was never really into the whole nude thing", he frowned.

Beckett shifted uncomfortably on the spot.

Castle laughed. "It was tempting some nights though, you know, just to rip all my clothes off and dive in. Especially that heat wave of '99, when I was between wives. But Alexis was at that stage where she would just wander around all over the place, half asleep, babbling "I'm not tired, daddy, I swear!" He chuckled at the memory, and then sighed. "It's so weird being here without her."

Beckett watched him, as he surveyed the place, recalling more memories with every shift of his eyes. Suddenly she felt envious that this place was only an unfamiliar, blank canvas to her. She found herself hoping there would be many opportunities for her to develop some memories of this place for herself.

"But hey, I guess I don't have to worry about her getting the shock of her life at seeing her father completely butt bookie... maybe this Summer will be a first", he winked.

Beckett would have looked away, blushing, but she was doubled over laughing. "Butt bookie?"

"What?" he said in a defensively high tone. "I'm up with the kids!"

Beckett only laughed harder. "If you were, you would know that the word "up" was actually replaced by "down", like when I was a teenager."

Castle chuckled "Oh, OK... you got me."

Beckett dried her eyes and shook her head at him. He was watching her intently.

"What?" she asked him as he stared at her.

"Nothing", he sighed. "I've never seen you laugh this much, in four years of knowing you."

She bit her lip that wouldn't turn upside down. "Must be the sea air."

He nodded, a large smile on his face.

"Come on, I want to see it all", she told him, extending her hand for him to take.

He stared down at it, and then up into her eyes. "You wanna see me get butt bookie?"

She rolled her eyes at him. "The house Castle, show me your house."

"Oh, the house, right", he said, feigning innocence.

He grinned as he took her hand in his.

Laughing at his humor until she cried, speaking of trips to Paris, of his nudity, of meeting him halfway? Who was this woman standing here on the back lawn of his home in the Hamptons with him, holding his hand so tightly and yet so gently at the same time? Who was this new and exciting Kate of The Hamptons and what had she done with Detective Beckett of New York City?

...


	2. Chapter 2

**Here's the second part :-)**

That afternoon, a swarm of rowdy vacationers appeared at Castle's door.

"Jeff, you old dog, how are you?" Castle greeted a balding man.

"Just fine Rick... where's your Mom?" The man replied, stepping inside.

"Oh, she's upstairs, turning herself into Doris Day."

"Ah, with her grace and beauty, it's not beyond the realms of possibility." He smiled.

Castle laughed. "Easy pal, she might get the wrong impression. We both know with her, it's definitely within the realms of possibility."

Stepping into the kitchen, the man's eyebrows raised. "Well, speaking of grace and beauty..."

His attention was on Beckett, who spun around as his voice.

"Oh, Jeff, this is Detective Katherine Beckett of the NYPD; Beckett, this is Jeff Smithson."

Beckett chuckled as she licked her fingers clean of the sauce from the bolognese she had been preparing. She extended her hand to the older man.

"Nice to meet you."

"Same here Detective, I hope you're not here to arrest me, I probably shouldn't tell you this, but some of the things Rick and I have done on our Summers here, would just about warrant it."

Beckett turned to Rick, with a enquiring expression. The grin he had on his face turned sheepish, and he bowed his head.

Beckett turned back to Jeff and shook her head. "Well I guess it's a good thing I'm off duty then... and please, call me Kate."

Over the next couple of hours, around a dozen more people arrived. Beckett prepared and served snacks and wine for everyone - eventually, even the impressive expanse of the kitchen became too small to hold the crowd, and Martha suggested they migrate outside.

Beckett was a big hit among Rick's friends. "You better keep this one around for more than one Summer, Richard, she's far too much of a prize to let go", an older woman told him.

Castle smiled at Beckett. "It's not my intention to let her go anywhere."

Beckett caught the sincerity in his voice and she bit her lip. She turned the woman and took her empty wineglass from her. "Can I top you up?" She asked.

"Oh, thank you, yes... she's definitely a keeper, Ricky, my boy", she added to Castle with a wink.

Beckett walked into the house and went into the kitchen, to refill the cup.

She poured the '86 Chateau Latour Cabernet Sauvignon into the wineglass, and then , looking out of the large bay window, got lost in the sight of the ocean, and the people who she now considered friends. She didn't know how the Summer would go, she had presumptions, all of them now proven incorrect. She knew that Rick Castle was a party-goer, and that was fine with her, because she knew that here in this place, she was the only party guest that had recieved a personal invitation, she was the one who would be there with him when everybody else had retired to their own beach houses, she was the only one that would share his bed..uh, home, share his home - she corrected herself. To her, the thought of sharing a glass of wine with him after everybody else had left, was just as enchanting as the idea of sharing a sweaty embrace with him after they had made love.

Yes, her mind went there, how could it not?

She inhaled deeply as she realized she was not only wanting his body, mind and spirit - she also wanted his heart.

And she wanted to give hers to him.

Just as the realization hit her, she felt a presence behind her that was unmistakably his.

She swiveled around quickly, her breath catching in her throat at the sight of him.

"Hey, you OK? I think Janice is getting a little thirsty waiting on that drink", he chuckled.

She slapped herself on the forhead. "Right, the drink... sorry, I just got sort of caught up in the view...it's magnificent. I really wish I'd accepted your offer before now, I never knew what I was missing out on." She turned to look at him intently.

He swallowed a lump in his throat. "It is rather spectacular."

Beckett closed her eyes for a moment, gathering all her courage in her upper chest, hoping it would serve her when she tried to speak. She turned to the window, not quite courageous enough to look at him.

"You know Rick..."

Castle's attention snapped to her when she used his first name. He stood, a little bit breathless, waiting for her to continue.

"I feel like I could be part of your life here. Part of the whole Castle-Hampton package."

Behind her ear, he smiled.

She continued, taking a step closer to the window. "I could be all domesticated, you know; spending afternoons making bolognese and salads up here in the kitchen, but I could also still be a bit of a wild child, staying up all night with our friends, partying down on the-"

She swallowed. "On the front lawn." She had become choked up at her own words, her own visions - at home in his kitchen, their kitchen, cooking for their friends.

Castle's eyes widened as her voice shook a little. Whoa, was she crying?

"And you can have all that Kate, you know you can. We can have that. You only have to say one thing, and we'll have that life...our life."

She stiffened against his presence. Was it the way his breath on her earlobe made her shiver, or her nerves that were getting to her the most? Either way, her voice didn't grow any stronger from that point.

"I...I want to Castle, I really want to but I-"

He said nothing to prompt or guide her. it was agonizing.

She bowed her head, shaking it. "I'm just really finding this hard, right now, OK?"

"Come on Kate, the words you need to say, they're all very short and not really that eloquent", he told her.

She huffed, and shook her head again. "Castle...You're going to have to help me out here."

"I'm right here, that's all I can do for you, you've got to take the lead on this one, Kate", he whispered behind her.

She stomped her foot, annoyed at the way he was so close to her, but refused to reach out to steady her.

"Castle..." her voice cracked, and she gasped for air.

"Come on Kate, you've got this... only, try and say it so that it's discernible this time, OK?"

"Castle..." she gritted her teeth, practically screaming, her voice hoarse with frustration.

Finally, he gave her the physical support she needed, by wrapping his arm around her shoulders and placing the quickest of kisses to the side of her head. "Mm?"

She half laughed, half groaned, but fully cried. He used her weak state to spin her around to face him. One look into his eyes, and she pounced, throwing her arms around his neck, lifting herself into his arms and kissing the life right out of him.

"I love you", she murmured desperately into his mouth.

"Hmm, sorry I didn't quite catch that?" He questioned her, wrapping his arms around her waist, smiling.

"I love you, I love you, I love you!" She cried out, between frenzied kisses.

"OK, you only had to say it once", he laughed.

She moaned in exasperation, her hands balling into fists and grabbing his collar, pushing her mouth hard against his, plotting a murder by suffocation.

When they pulled away to resume breathing, she pointed her finger at him. "If you don't shut up, I will throw you out that window and I will make it look like a suicide."

He raised his eyebrow at her, amused.

She groaned at her own weakness, why did she have to find him so irresistible?

She brought his lips crashing back to hers, sighing as his tongue slipped in between her lips.

"I want you", Castle told her straight.

Beckett snorted into his mouth. "You don't love me?"

He rolled his eyes, growling into her neck. "You know I do."

"Mhm", she nodded, their mouths re-joining.

It wasn't questioned, they were both aware that she'd known.

"So this place have a bedroom?" She asked suggestively.

"Mm, several in fact. But only one we need to be thinking about."

"Yours?" She licked her lips, a smile spilling from them.

His only response was to pick her up into his arms, making her squeal.

"Wait", she said, stopping him in his tracks, just as they reached the bottom step.

She bent her knee so that she could take off her high-heeled boots, but it was hard to get the tight fitting footwear off her own feet.

"Little help here?"

"Oh, right", he tore the boots from her feet, he ran his hands over her them as he threw the shoes to the floor. The sweeping of his fingers on her ticklish feet, made her squirm slightly against him.

"Wow, that shed like ten pounds", he said, carrying her up the stairs. "How do you even walk in those things?"

She shrugged. "Feet as sexy as these deserve to be encased in style."

Castle's eyes widened, as they reached the top landing. "Agreed", he growled, slamming her small body against the wall, attacking her mouth.

"Mm, I love you...Oh God do I ever!" He sighed against her cheek, as she grabbed his butt, pulling his hips into hers, squeezing one of his firm ass cheeks.

"We should really try to make it to the bedroom, which one is it again?" Beckett asked with a raspy voice.

"Nn- that one just up the hall... OK, you'll have to let me go, I gotta get some space from you, or I'm afraid I'm probably not going to last", he said, embarrassed.

Beckett flushed. "Oh, OK... uh, sorry."

He grabbed her hand. "No-no it's not like that... this is just four years of pent up... whatever this is, and I'm just so freakin' turned on by you right now, that I could seriously just blow right here in the hall-."

"OK, OK, I get it, Castle", Beckett put her hand over his mouth to quiet him.

"Bedroom, OK... come on." They took a few more steps up the hall.

"This one?" Beckett asked, stopping at a well polished rosewood door.

Castle nodded, and opened the door for her to step inside.

The room was large, and for a while Beckett felt they must have stepped into another house, it had been difficult to see how far back the beach house really went from the front.

There was a huge bay window, stretching across the entire expanse of the far wall. The curtains were a dark shade of blue, and the furniture was all black polished ebony wood. The bed was also a dark space, with a black satin quilt flung carelessly over it. Despite the hollow darkness of the room, it came off looking sharp and the light and the stars shining through the open curtains, gave the room a gentle brightness. His bedroom was spotless, but lived-in.

It appealed to Kate instantly.

"Wow", she breathed out, surveying the entirety of Richard Castle's holiday bedroom. She'd read about this space in magazines of course, even fantasized about being given a private tour of it, never imagining that one day she would actually be welcomed in it, let alone wantedin it. Wanted by him.

She felt heat bubbling within her lower belly, and she looked at him, watching her.

He titled his head with a gentle expression. "Come here", he requested softly.

He held his hands out to her, inviting her to take them. She crossed the room, biting her lip. She was ready to make love to him, ready to do things to him, and let him do things to her, but talking with him? Being romantic, intimate? That was a different thing.

She reminded herself that her confession of love was like the opening of a gateway that welcomed Castle into any part of her he wished to enter. Love meant giving herself to him completely, whether that be physically or emotionally.

He breathed in her worried expression, and lifted a tender hand to tuck a stray strand of hair, behind her ear.

She closed her eyes, sighing into the warmth of his touch.

"Now tell me again, I want to look into your eyes when you say it", he told her softly.

She opened her eyes, and stared into his. Her knees instantly buckled.

She wasn't hesitant about saying it again, it just didn't seem like enough. She wanted to offer him something more than that.

"I've never felt this way about anyone, ever."

He smiled, but raised his eyebrow, waiting for the words he really wanted to hear.

"I love you Richard Castle... I love you."

He inhaled and stroked her cheek with his thumb. "I love you... so much", he told her.

Slower than before, they moved into one another, each totally devoid of any thoughts that weren't of each other.

They breathed, sighs escaping occasionally as they lapped up each other's mouths. Castle sucked on her lips, and licked the space between her bottom lip and her chin. She moaned at the unexpected sensation that arose from the strangely erotic act.

"You like me don't you?" Castle grinned suddenly into her ear, swiping it with the tip of his tongue.

"I love you", she muttered sloppily.

"Yes I know you love me, but you like me as well. For some reason I feel that accusation is going to be harder for you to confess to."

"No", she said lightly.

"No you don't like me?" He said, trailing a line of kisses around her chin, down to her neck.

"No, I don't have any hesitation in admitting that I like you." She put her hands on his upper arms. "I like you Mr. Castle, I like you very, very... much." She pressed her body right into his, forcing him to drop to the bed, where she straddled him.

He groaned and captured her mouth with his violently. He slipped his hands under her night shirt and ran them over her breasts.

She opened her mouth against his, letting out a gasp.

"I like you too Miss Beckett", he whispered, rubbing her nipples with his writers' fingers.

She was shaking with the euphoria of the knowledge that he had his hands on her, and yet she still managed to squeak out; "That's - ugh - Detective Beckett to you."

"Well Detective Beckett..." with a flourish he lifted her shirt over her head, revealing her naked chest.

"You have the right to remain..." He was going to say "You have the right to remain sexy", but when he saw the scar between her perfectly endowed breasts, the final word was lost somewhere between his brain and his lips.

"Castle?" Beckett questioned him. He looked at her with pride and sadness. Pride in her that she had forgotten, even just for the moment, about her shooting, about hiding her pain, and sadness because he loved her so much, and he knew that pain she usually hid would resurface the moment he did what he was too compelled now not to do.

He stroked her death mark softly with the index and middle fingers of his right hand.

She shuddered at his touch.

"Extraordinary", he said so softly, his gaze fixed on the bullet-shaped welt. He looked up into her eyes. "You have the right to remain extraordinary", his voice filled with tenderness.

She looked at him with adoration.

"You will anyway", Castle chuckled lightly.

Beckett smiled. She leaned into him, immensely enjoying the friction of her taught nipples against the scratchy fabric of his nylon t-shirt...

"Richard, have you seen my - oh my god!" Martha was standing at Castle's bedroom door, her hand covering her face.

Kate couldn't help but spin around on instinct, her boobs swaying with her as she turned around on Castle's lap. "Martha!"

Castle's hands instantly went to cover her breasts, which he instantly regretted as he realized that the image of him fondling the half naked detective's jugs would now be an image ingrained in his mother's mind forever.

Martha went red as she shifted in the doorway, her eyebrows raised, lips pursed, she was amused.

"Kate, darling, I had no idea- you - I'm so sorry - I just..."

"MOTHER, GET OUT!" Castle screamed.

"I - yes - sorry - I - oh..." Martha spluttered as she exited the room in haste, closing the door behind her.

Castle and Beckett both exhaled at the same time, not able to look at each other. Suddenly, Beckett began to laugh, slumping against him.

"What's so funny?" He asked her, sounding indignant, but his own laughter gave him away.

She used her hands to push herself up from his chest. "It's so weird but part of me thought that was kind of hot", she bit her lip.

Castle furrowed his eyebrows, looking at her like she was crazy. "What? You're sick... that was my mother."

Beckett shook her head, tapping his cheek with her palm. "Oh no, not your mother walking in on us, no that was...awkward."

Castle nodded in agreement.

"No, I meant how you put your hands on me, covering me up. It didn't just turn me on, it made me feel protected. And you know what really gets my juices flowing, Castle?"

She reached around him and cupped his ass cheeks in her hands, leaving him speechless.

"A man who completely disregards everything I tell him, drives me totally insane with his complete inability to leave me alone, never ever lets me make my own mistakes, is always there stepping on my toes..."

"Your very sexy toes", Castle found his voice.

"...Breaking every rule in the rule book, holding absolutely zero respect for authority, and still... turns out to be the hero at the end of every day."

Castle ran his hand through her hair, and down her neck, loving this open new side of his Detective.

Beckett shook her head and mirrored his actions. "It's both extremely infuriating... and incredibly hot."

"So that's what turns you on, being looked after?" Castle grinned.

Beckett blushed, but winked at him.

"Well then", Castle flips around, throwing her on his bed.

She looks up at him with sparkling eyes, filled with sensuality and love.

"Prepare to be massively, rapturously taken care of, my dear Detective..."

She squealed and he began his quest to test the limits of her sanity, which would continue all night long, and each night of that Summer, and then every night and every Summer for the rest of their lives.

**So, yes that's it - it's a bit disjointed I know, but that's what dreams are like, and it is seriously from my dream. How awesome is my subconcious, right? The part where Beckett screams "Castle!", when she's itching to tell him, and is becoming all infuriated at herself for not being able to - that part I can still see so bloody clearly in my head; I actually got frightened by a dream version of Beckett. She just SCREAMED it at me... well, at him I guess! I had to get a little creative with the story to make it all connect a little bit bitter than the flashing images in my head - the part where he carries her up the stairs wasn't part of my dream - they were in the kitchen, and then nek minnit, they were in the bedroom; his hands on her boobs! And she's suddenly wearing a night shirt; conveniently... Dreams are spacey things...**

**Anyway this was real fun to write down, I just couldn't leave it in my own head, I had to share it with the world :-)**

**Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!**


End file.
